VESSEL REVIEW | Cape Hatteras & Cape Canaveral – Great Lakes Dredge and Dock acquires pipe-lay and anchor handling workboats

Houston-based marine projects specialist Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company (GLDD) has expanded its fleet of vessels following the delivery of two new workboats built by Conrad Shipyard of Morgan City, Louisiana.

Cape Hatteras and Cape Canaveral belong to a series of shallow-draught workboats designed by Netherlands-based the Damen Shipyards Group to perform numerous roles in support of dredging activities, civil construction works, maintenance of shorelines and waterways, and offshore operations. In GLDD service, the vessels will be used primarily for dredging, pipe laying, anchor handling, and logistics supply.

According to the owner, the new vessels provide a significant improvement with regard to safety, as works such as pipe handling and connection can now take place securely on vessel decks, hence reducing the risk of crew falling overboard. Each workboat also has Heila fore and aft deck cranes and multiple winch and wire tugger arrangements to significantly reduce manual work as well as the risk of injuries. Efficiency is also greatly enhanced by eliminating the need for assorted floating support equipment such as derrick barges, anchor barges, and tugs.

The workboats each have an LOA of 99 feet (30.15 metres), a moulded beam of 41 feet (12.5 metres), a maximum draught of only 8.5 feet (2.6 metres), a gross tonnage of 345, and an open deck with a total area of 1,829 square feet (170 square metres). Three Caterpillar C32 TTA US EPA Tier III-compliant engines that each produce 1,000 hp (746 kW) at 1,800 rpm drive fixed-pitch propellers via Reintjes gearboxes to deliver a speed of 10.2 knots and a bollard pull of approximately 32 tons (29 tonnes).

The wheelhouse electronics on each vessel includes a Furuno radar while the other deck equipment consists of anchor handling, towing and tugger winches, towing pins, a bow roller, and a stern roller. There is also an integrated moonpool with a diameter of 3.28 feet (one metre).

The crew of seven are housed in heated and air-conditioned accommodations that include two double cabins and three single cabins. A combined galley and mess with adjacent store and sufficient sanitary facilities are also provided.

Cape Hatteras and Cape Canaveral are fully compliant to Bureau Veritas class rules as well as the stability criteria of the US Coast Guard and the US Army Corps of Engineers.